


RESET

by ColoredGayngels



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, ITS ALL ANGST, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR TRUE PACIFIST AND GENOCIDE ENDINGS, everyones fave murder baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 06:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5486822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColoredGayngels/pseuds/ColoredGayngels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Papyrus is dead. It’s their fault.</p><p>RESET</p><p>They kill Toriel.</p><p>RESET</p><p>Whimsun.</p><p>RESET</p>
            </blockquote>





	RESET

**Author's Note:**

> For Frisk and Chara, with love, Papyrus.

_ I want to stay with you _ , you signed, sending a small smile up to the goat monster.

 

“What?” Toriel looked shocked. You signed the words a second time.

 

“Frisk… You really are a funny child.” Toriel smiled sadly. “If you had said that earlier, none of this would never would  happened. It is a good thing you took so long to change your mind.”

 

She chuckled, almost a bleating a sound. “Well… I suppose. If you really do not have any other place to go…” She paused again and your head, placing your small hand in her large paw. “I will do my best to take care of you for as long as you need. All right?”

 

You nodded, a huge grin across your face. “Now, come along. Everyone is waiting for us!” You followed your new mom into the sunset.

 

But something felt wrong.

**\-------------**

**TRUE RESET**

**\-------------**

“What will you do now?” Toriel asked. You looked up at her. Something still felt off. You had declined the offer to be the ambassador for monsters this time, so you signed that you had places to go, looking down at your shoes.

 

It didn’t fix the uneasy feeling.

 

“Ah… I see.” Toriel paused. “Well… I hope that I am not keeping you.” 

 

She took a few steps forward before turning around. “Frisk.” You looked up, tears shining in your eyes.

 

“See you around.” And then she was gone.

 

This wasn’t what you wanted either.

**\-------------**

**TRUE RESET**

**\-------------**

Sans cringed as he felt the dust - Toriel’s dust - that coated your hand when you shook his.

 

You didn’t hide behind the conveniently-shaped lamp. Why didn’t you hide behind the lamp?

 

Why didn’t you do Papyrus’ puzzles? They had been so much fun.

 

Why did Sans agree with his brother about Junior Jumble?

 

Why was Snowdin empty?

 

Everything was so very different.

 

You couldn’t do anything as you - no, as  _ they _ murdered all of your friends. Nobody even recognized you as human. Flowey had even called you by their name.

 

They killed everyone in the Ruins, from the lowliest moldsmal to Toriel.  
You told them to stop

 

They killed all of the guard dogs before knocking Papyrus’ head right from his body.  
You begged to load your SAVE file.

 

They held the concert with Shyren, only to slash her to dust. They swung out at Monster  
Kid, only to kill Undyne. _Twice_.  
_Please reset_.

 

Alphys did her best to evacuate Hotland, but they still killed every Vulkin and the  
remaining Royal Guards. They killed Mettaton, who had a body you had never seen  
before.  
_I want to die_.

 

Asgore’s home was empty, as usual. They gave you a tour, noting your curiosity about the home you’d been in so many times.

 

“My bed. His bed. My drawing.” They choked up for a moment. “Dusty toys.” 

 

They took the knife, shiny and sharp unlike the dagger you had always seen. “About time.”

 

Before they went down the stairs, you asked about the calendar.

 

“The date I came here.”

 

Each time Flowey popped up to tell his story, they got more annoyed.

~~~

Sans slammed your body into the walls, floor, and ceiling over and over, deaths and SAVEs not hindering him nor them. The skeleton’s words rang in your mind.

 

*Y o u d i r t y b r o t h e r k i l l e r.  
_Just let him kill us. Stop loading._

 

But they refused.

 

They didn’t even watch as Sans turned to dust. They just kept walking.

~~~

Asgore was dead. There hadn’t even been a fight. 

 

There was nothing left. Just you, weak and broken, and them, stronger, more powerful than even Asriel had been.

 

Then, finally, you saw them.

 

They looked just like you.

 

There were a few slight differences. For instance, their eyes were wide open, their hair a choppier version of your own. They wore a sweater similar to the one Asriel wore. They might have even been a little taller, older than you were.

 

You couldn’t tell where you were. There was just dark. They were all you could see.

 

“Greetings.” You jumped, startled by the voice. It seemed to surround you, filling your head and the empty space you were in. Their voice was both low and high, shouting and a whisper.

 

“I am Chara,” they continued, knowing they had your full attention. They giggled, their laugh similar to Flowey’s. “Thank you. Your power awakened me from death.”

 

“You couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. You reached for your SAVE file.

 

But nothing happened.

 

“My human soul, my  _ determination _ .” They said the word as though it were poison in their mouth. “They are not mine, but  _ yours _ . At first, I was so confused. Our plan had failed, hadn’t it? Why was I brought back to life?”

 

It was cold, colder, yet colder.

 

“You.”

 

Their lifeless grin grew. “With your guidance, I realized the purpose of my reincarnation. Power. Together, we eradicated the enemy  and became strong.” You didn’t feel strong. You felt as if they were sucking the life from you.

 

“HP. ATK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV. Every time a number increases, that feeling? That’s me, Chara. Now, now, we have reached the absolute. There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world and move on to the next.”

 

Your eyes widen as two options appear in front of you.

**\----------------------------------**

**ERASE**                               **DO NOT**

**\----------------------------------**

**DO NOT**

**\----------------------------------**

Their face contorted, as if they were bleeding and melting, an inhuman shriek coming from their distorted mouth as they advanced toward you. You screamed for help, but nobody came.

 

**“SINCE WHEN WERE YOU IN CONTROL.”**

~~~

You reached for your SAVE file.

**\--------------**

**FILE LOADED**

**\--------------**

“Interesting.”

 

You couldn’t see them, but they were there.

 

“You want to go back. You want to go back to the world you destroyed.”

 

You did. You missed your friends. You felt your sins crawling on your back.

 

“It was you who pushed everything to its edge. It was you who led the world to its destruction.

 

“But you can not accept it.

 

“You think you are above the consequences.”

**\------------------------**

**YES**                          **NO**

**\------------------------**

**YES**

**\------------------------**

“Exactly. Perhaps we can reach a compromise. You still have something I want. Give it to me. And I will bring this world back.”

**\------------------------**

**YES**                          **NO**

**\------------------------**

**YES**

**\------------------------**

“Then it is agreed. You will give me your SOUL.”

**\------------------------**

**YES**                          **NO**

**\------------------------**

**YES**

**\------------------------**

“Then it is done.”

~~~

And then you’re falling again.

~~~

Papyrus is dead. It’s their fault.

**\---------**

**RESET**

**\---------**

They kill Toriel.

**\---------**

**RESET**

**\---------**

Whimsun.

**\---------**

**RESET**

**\---------**

You keep resetting until you manage to save everyone again. You do it a third, fourth, fifth time.

 

The uneasiness from the first time never leaves.

 

And they take over again.

 

And again.

 

And again.

 

The reset over and over, killing different combinations of your friends.

 

Your memories are all blurred together. You can barely tell the timelines apart.

 

Undyne kills you twice.

 

Mettaton kills you once.

 

Sans kills you ten, twenty, thirty times.

 

He spares you.

 

You manage to take control from Chara long enough to spare him, too.

 

He kills you anyway.

 

You swear that this time, Sans cries.

**\---------------------------**

**Dark, Darker, Yet Darker**

**The Darkness Keeps Growing**

**\---------------------------**

Chara lets you have control this time.

 

It’s been a while.

 

You don’t kill anyone, from the first Froggit to the Final Froggit.

 

You’re filled with determination.

 

You choose to be the ambassador and stay with Toriel this time.

 

You put Flowey in a pot and bring him to the surface with you.

 

The uneasy feeling lessens.

 

You’re filled with determination.

 

Alphys finds a way for Flowey to turn back into Asriel for short periods of time.

 

You find out that Sans has nightmares about resets, too.

**\--------------------------**

**Dark, Darker,  Darker Still**

**What Do You Two Think?**

**\--------------------------**

**Determination.**

**\--------------------------**

They hadn’t tried to reset. It’d been years. You were no longer a child, yet you couldn’t help but wonder, were they? Had they grown with you? You could feel them sometimes, hear their thoughts, sometimes more than others.

 

You and Sans had gotten closer in recent years. Talking about nightmares helped, but sometimes you could feel, deep down in your soul, your sins,  _ their _ sins, crawling on your back when the skeleton looked at you.

 

You wore Sans’ jacket that night, after learning that it helped with the nightmares. As the two of you were falling asleep, you rolled to face him. You tapped his skull lightly and started signing, hoping he could see your hands in the dark.

 

_ I promise, no more- _

**\-------------**

**TRUE RESET**

**\-------------**

They killed everyone again. But why now?

**\--------------------------------**

**Dark, Darker, Yet Darker**

**Something Wicked This Way Comes**

**\--------------------------------**

“I am Chara.”

 

You knew.

 

“‘Chara.’ The demon that comes when people call its name.”

 

They were a kid, like you. Not a demon.

 

“It doesn’t matter when.”

 

They destroyed your happy ending.

 

“It doesn’t matter where.”

 

They tore you from your home and family.

 

“Time after time, I will appear.”

 

You hated the things they had done.

 

“And, with your help, we will eradicate the enemy and become strong.”

 

They only true enemy was them.

 

“HP. ARK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV.”

 

You didn’t want any of those things.

 

“Every time a number increases, that feeling… That’s me.”

 

You had heard this so many times.

 

“‘Chara.’ But you and I are not the same, are we?”

 

You will never be the same as them.

 

“This SOUL resonates with a strange feeling.”

 

Determination.

 

“There is a reason you continue to recreate this world.”

 

Toriel. Asgore. Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Mettaton.

 

Asriel.

 

“There is a reason you continue to destroy it.”

 

They made you.

 

“You. You are wracked with a perverted sentimentality.”

 

Were they sure they weren’t talking about themself?

 

“Hmm. I cannot understand these feelings anymore. Despite this, I feel obligated to suggest.”

 

A pause.

 

“Should you choose to recreate this world once more, another path would be well suited.”

 

But you hadn’t killed anyone, they had. Hadn’t they?

 

“Now, partner.”

 

Were you forgetting something?

 

“Let us send this world back into the abyss.”

**\-------------------------------------**

**ERASE**                                        **DO NOT**

**\-------------------------------------**

You wanted your happy ending back.

**\-----------**

**DO NOT**

**\-----------**

“No…?”

 

No.

 

“Hmm… this feeling you have. This is what I spoke of. Unfortunately, regarding this…”

 

Their face changed into the one you saw in your nightmares.

 

**“YOU MADE YOUR CHOICE LONG AGO.”**

**\-------------------------------------------**

**Dark, Darker, Yet Darker**

**You Still Have A Choice To Make, Young One.**

**\-------------------------------------------**

They didn’t give you control for the next several timelines. At the end of the last one, you knew you had to do something different.

 

You reached for your SAVE file.

 

“W-what are you doing?”

**\--------------------------------------------**

**CHARA** **LV20**                 **9999:99**

**1 LEFT**

**SAVE**                                           **RETURN**

**\--------------------------------------------**

You had to abort.

 

“You can’t do that!”

 

You were determined.

 

“Stop that!”

 

You forgave them.

 

“Why?”

 

You comforted them.

 

“L-let go of me!”

 

They pushed you away, and you stumbled.

 

“I am the demon that comes when-”

 

“No.”

 

You raised your voice for the first time in years, wrapping your arms back around them. You felt yourself becoming stronger.

 

You’re filled with determination.

 

“NO!” They screeched, their face contorting. “I AM A DEMON!”

 

You held them tighter. “No,” you whispered, your eyes glistening with tears. “You’re just a kid. We’re just kids.”

 

Tears dripped onto your shoulder as they leaned into the hug, finally.

 

“I… I miss my mom,” they whispered, barely audible.

 

You held them a long time until finally, they let go, hanging their head and drying their eyes.

 

You reached for your SAVE file.

 

You let a huge grin spread across your face as you held out your hand. 

 

“Chara.” 

 

They looked up, eyes red and cheeks tearstained.

 

“Let’s do this right.”

 

They took your hand, offering back a small, genuine smile.

 

You’re filled with determination.

**\---------**

**RESET**

**\---------**

Sans helped you bring Chara back. The uneasy feeling disappeared. You had finally saved everyone.

 

You remembered what Asgore had done to your MERCY button and asked him to do the same to your RESET button.

 

Almost all of yours and Sans’ nightmares were gone, but some nights, you still crawled into his bed in the dead of night.

 

You, Chara, and Asriel had all fallen asleep watching a movie. As Sans carried you to your room, you tapped lightly on his skull, knowing for sure he could see your hands this time.

 

 

_ No more RESETs. _


End file.
